On no-hit hijinks and retirement

Garza's teammates superstitious during no-hitter

Here are some of the notable quotes from around Major League Baseball this week:

"I was trying to do the same thing every single inning. As the night went on, I kind of knew I couldn't move. My butt was hurting all night from sitting there, but I had to do what I had to do."

--James Shields on the difficulty involved in trying not to jinx teammate Matt Garza's no-hitter against Detroit.
(St. Petersburg Times)

"I was nervous at the beginning. I was just trying to translate it into doing stuff on the mound. It took me awhile to settle in. Actually, it was after A-Rod [leading off] in the second inning. That's when I was able to control my emotions and just get guys out."

--Indians rookie Josh Tomlin, after a Major League debut on Tuesday night in which he held the Yankees to three hits in seven innings for his first win.
(Akron Beacon Journal)

"He is one of the greatest players to ever play, not even just at the catcher position. This being my first year, to see him go about his everyday business and how he carries himself, it's really special and an honor for me, because he's the game's best, and I get to learn from that."

"When I was up here a long time ago, that was one of the things that was on my mind -- gotta get one, gotta get one. I'm old enough that a lot of things I would have been enamored with at 23 or 24 have kind of lost a little bit of their luster. I've learned to relax and enjoy the moment a little bit more than what I would have."

--A's outfielder Matt Watson on hitting his first Major League home run at the age of 31.
(Oakland Tribune)

"A big part of it is knowing that I'm going to be in [the lineup today]. Knowing that helps me relax, and getting the hits certainly helps."

"I can't really explain it in one sentence because I've tried so many things. I've always had a pickoff move. It's really not a matter of me not having a good one. It's a matter of them stealing and me just happening to pick them off."

"It was nice. I didn't even know what was happening. We had a taxed bullpen and they pretty much told us that me and [Casey] Janssen were going to be the first two guys to go in the game ... [and] we both did a pretty good job in there."

-- David Purcey, Toronto reliever, on his first career save Monday night against Baltimore.
(Toronto Star)

"I only know three people on that team: Jake [Westbrook], [Travis] Hafner and [Shin-Soo] Choo. It just feels like coming to another place to play.

"Even last year, I didn't really know a lot of guys. They had traded a bunch of guys and it really wasn't the same roster, so I didn't feel any different."

--CC Sabathia on what it is like to face the Indians, one of his former teams.
(New York Daily News)

"It turned out good. You never know what the future holds for you. I'm glad I got traded. I'm glad I'm in Chicago and have had a lot of fun here and a great career here."

--Aramis Ramirez, discussing the trade that sent him from Pittsburgh to Chicago seven years ago.
(Chicago Sun-Times)

"I worked on my mechanics a bit, but I worked on my [mentality], too. I talked to myself every time I got in a game, telling myself, 'Confidence. You can do it.' That helped me a lot."

--Wil Ledezma, Pittsburgh reliever, recently recalled from Triple-A after posting a 0.94 ERA, on what things he focused on while in the Minor Leagues.
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

"This is a good thing. You don't have a lot of opportunities here, so if you get an opportunity you have to take advantage and just try to do your thing, do your best to help the team and keep working on the things you need to work on."

"I try not to pay any attention to it. The game's hard enough, going out and battling and grinding on a night-in and night-out basis. If you start filling your head with outside expectations over what could potentially be happening here or there, it could take away from what you're trying to do out on the field. But, on the other side, it's flattering that teams are talking about you."

"It will be an honor to share the mound with a guy who helped me get to where I am today."

--Jered Weaver on how he felt facing off against former teammate John Lackey, who signed with the Red Sox following the 2009 season.
(Los Angeles Times)

"He's truly, truly a great catcher. Because of him, I have grown to watch what catchers do and judge them against him, and I don't know everybody appreciates how good he was -- I'll give him credit and say, how good he still is. He had durability and has been around the game a long time and is one of the smartest baseball guys I've known."

"I felt like I was just starting to hit my stride. That's why it came as such a shock. I would've thought the Angels would've done a trade for a hitter or something. But they obviously felt that Dan Haren, a No. 1-type pitcher, could help them. I'm just excited to get started with the Diamondbacks."

--Joe Saunders commenting on being traded from the Angels to the Diamondbacks.
(The Arizona Republic)

"Everything felt different. I felt my mechanics were off. I let little things affect me. I was frustrating myself. It was a little like early in the season. In the later innings, I felt I picked it up and zoned in on what I wanted to do."

"That means a lot. But, man, like I say, I look forward to keep helping this team. As you can see, this is not over yet. With this offense that we have and the pitching staff we have, we can do some damage."

--Carlos Silva, Cubs pitcher, who has 10 wins this season, on the possibility that he might surpass his career-high of 14 victories.
(Chicago Sun-Times)